Re: Public Journal ideas

[becky.rickly@umich.edu (Becky Rickly)]

>I'm intrigued by the idea of a public journal for writing tutors.  Those
>of you who are not using electronic journals, what do the journals look
>like?  Where are they kept?  When do tutors write in them?

D'Ann, here at U of M, our peer tutors enter a reading log into Daedalus
Mail every class period first thing--then they read what everyone's written
and have a short discussion afterwards.  Daedalus runs on a Local Area
Network, so it's only available in the classroom.  What they write in Mail
really helps them to first think about their own response to the
reading/experiences they've had, then seeing others' responses helps them
to contextualize it.  Sometimes we have lively discussions about everything
from the contet of the reading to how poorly/well written it is to how site
specific it is to local applications....and everything in between!

I've also used an e-mail group (on a Wide Area Network) for students to
keep a log of their experiences both observing and practicing their
tutoring.  I hesitate to call either of these a journal, though, in the
"traditional" sense of the word, but I think they serve some of the same
reflective purposes--plus they help the community at large reflect on
itself.

--Becky

Becky Rickly, Coordinator
University of Michigan OWL
OWL@umich.edu
http://www.lsa.umich.edu/ecb/OWL/owl.html